December 24, 2012

Plebgate; Theatricality and Deception

If there is a more detestable demonstration of the collusion between our media and political elites, I believe that what is now called “plebgate” trumps every other example. To summarise, Andrew Mitchell is accused of calling a police officer a “pleb”. He is therefore deemed unfit for government.

I do not know Andrew Mitchell’s bona fides nor anything about him. Nor do I care. However, I do know that in our current political system calling someone an antiquated word for a “commoner” cannot be a disqualification for office worthy of the notion. One can lie and deceive, and so long as one does so effectively, and courts our media thusly, one will remain fit. I suspect this of some eighty percent of our Parliament, though I may be off in that estimate.

It is at this point, you might expect me to say that calling someone a “pleb” is not befitting of our governance. In truth, I care not one bit. Nor is it even clear that he even uttered that phrase. But we are presented with reportage of the controversy, not the facts. Though they may become real in the ultimate account they are not the things that our press cares about. Indeed, reflecting on it, I wonder how many consumers of the media even know what “pleb” means. It’s a somewhat sophisticated insult, all told, and at least for today’s audience.

Regardless, what we are presented with, alongside stories of greater import (or lesser, if you include the cultish and pointless obssession with the Mayan “prophecy”) is a story about what one grown man, whilst riding a bicycle, said about another grown man, This is our political theatre production, dear reader! This is WHAT MATTERS, according to the RESPECTABLE papers. Does it affect anything at all? Much like the EXPENSES SCANDAL it has so little relation to ordinary lives, yet it affects our media class much like pornography might.

I can speak from anecdote as to the quality of those who police the Palace of Westminster. In every encounter I have had with them, I might better deploy the term “fascist” than “pleb”. If anything “pleb” is a compliment beyond their actual station. Frontline police deserve a semblance of respect. The little Napoleons that populate Parliament in the name of protection of our “betters”, with all the trappings and safety it provides deserve at best, our scrutiny, and at worst our contempt.

Having danced around the point of this, but the ultimate aim is that of, per the title, theatricality and deception. The media, in presenting “plebgate” hopes to show that it is in genuine conflict with with the political class. Yet they are not. They are courtiers who take some delight in the lewd intrigues of their former bretheren. I can guarantee you that those responsible for pushing and “reporting” “plebgate” are the rough equivalents of the gossips in school one so despised in principle, but followed in prejudice.

The simplistic beauty of PLEBGATE is this. Does this thing that is happening affect my well being, or the Commonwealth of my society? The extant answer is “NO”.

And that is the answer to most of the questions that our failed media experiment purports to ask.